Worth The Fight (Worth It Series Book 1) Read online

  WORTH

  THE

  FIGHT

  Worth It Series: Volume One

  BREANNA MANSFIELD

  Copyright © 2017 Breanna Mansfield

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Dedication

  To my best friend.

  To the woman whose soul matches mine. To the woman who has been my biggest cheerleader throughout this whole crazy dream I had. The woman who pushed me. Laughed with me. Cried with me. Believed in me.

  Without you Amanda Jane, this story wouldn’t be here. Thank you for being my other half. Thank you for the motivation you give me every single day. Thank you for knowing the song of my heart when I forget it, but mostly -- thank you for singing it back to me when I need to hear it.

  Without you, I wouldn’t be me.

  This one’s for you.

  Acknowledgements

  Cover designer: Susan Garwood with Wicked Women Designs

  Cover Model: Nick Bennett

  Cover Image: Golden Czermak with Furious Fotog

  Editor: Josephine Leigh

  Chapter One

  I can’t believe that bastard burned my house down. I can’t believe he’s going to get away with it. I can’t believe that asshole found me, that moving across the country didn’t stop him. I’m sure that the shock and anger will fade and in its place will be fear, but right now I’m so damn pissed. How did this happen? I changed my car; I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. I never told anyone I was married; I didn’t forward my mail, didn’t give my last job a notice. Just left. I even got a new car under my uncle’s name. He found me.

  “How did he find me?”

  I screamed to no one once I drove away from the police department. They told me the fire was an act of god. They couldn’t find anything that started it and there was no evidence of foul play. Imagine that. Leroy Stevens was most likely playing with his daddy’s money again. He sure knows how to spend his inheritance on things that don’t do anyone any good.

  I was on my way into work so I could put this whole situation in the back of my mind. Working at Carrollview Hospital in the Emergency Room tended to make you forget the outside world. Carrollview wasn’t a large city by any means, but it was a pretty big community and town. I’ve seen bigger, and I’ve seen smaller. That’s why I thought it would be perfect to move here. If Leroy would have looked for me, I thought he’d look in either big or small places, not the in between. Just my luck.

  Once I put my car into park I jumped out and ran inside. I was already late, but they understood my need to speak with the County Sheriff, even though it was pointless. At least the homeowners insurance will pay for me to build a new house -- I at least have that going for me.

  “How did it go, Bridget?” Doug asked.

  Doug was one of my favorite doctors here. He didn’t want people calling him by his last name, so he told patients and staff both to call him Dr. Doug or just Doc. I loved him. He was one of the younger doctors we had on staff here. He had blonde hair that was short on the sides and longer on the top. It was a bit shaggy. He was built like a body builder, and had two arms full of tattoos he hardly let show. Even though it was hot as shit outside, he still wore long sleeves every time he worked. I ran into him at the grocery store once and he had on short sleeves and I nearly shit myself. I remember the way he laughed at me when I stuttered, standing there staring at them. He was walking around the store with one of those plastic shopping baskets on his arm, his tatted up, muscled arms on display. If I didn’t know his warm personality I would have been intimidated by him.

  “Absolutely pointless. Ugh, they said that ‘the fire was an act of god.’ How is that possible? God doesn’t just go around setting fires.” I kicked the chair behind the nurses station.

  “No, he doesn’t, but I don’t think that’s exactly what they mean,” he answered with a chuckle. If I told him what I really thought happened, he would distance himself real quick. So better keep it simple as always.

  “I know; I’m just so upset. I really wish they could have told me what really started it. At least it would make me feel better, you know? That way I could at least know what not to do next time.”

  Like not marry an abusive controlling asshole. Leroy was sweet at first, but as soon as that ring was on my finger, boom. Everything changed in a matter of weeks. I really wish I could have seen it coming.

  “If they say it was an act of god, then it was probably just a fluke. Don’t worry. I’m just glad you agreed to stay over for me a few extra hours. I can’t even think what would have happened if you were home for that.” As he says this, his eyes darken and I internally shudder.

  I had a sinking feeling that’s what he was aiming for to happen.

  “Yeah, you and me both, Doc.”

  “Hey Doc? We have a new one in room six. He cut his hand pretty good at work, so we will need a full Occ Health eval on him.” Audrey came around the corner. When she looked up from the iPad, she stopped and saw me.

  “Oh! I’m guessing no good news today, B?”

  “Unfortunately not. So, we begin building process as soon as I find someone who can do the job with the budget they gave me,” I replied while gathering my stethoscope and trauma pager.

  “That sucks billy goat balls, B. I’m sorry. If you need somewhere to crash while you’re getting it figured out, you let me know okay?” She said as she wrapped me in one of her deep southern hugs I was still getting used to.

  “Thanks A, but I’ll be okay. I’m staying at the hotel off Main right now. And the insurance place said they would provide a place until the house gets done.” I lied; I just didn’t like taking handouts from people. I had enough saved up to stay a couple months. Thankfully the hotel gives a monthly discount.

  “Want me to tackle room six for you, Doc?”

  “That would be great. I have to run into another room -- the lady thinks she’s pregnant, but she had a full hysterectomy five years ago,” he says with an eye roll. I giggle and pat his shoulder, “Good luck with that one, Doc.”

  I walk away towards room six, already feeling better and lighter. I love my job here. So much.

  I opened the sliding glass doors and went around the curtain in the room and looked up to a very attractive man. Sometimes I just loved my job.

  “Hello Tim, I’m Bridget. Audrey tells me you have a cut on your hand from work?”

  “Yeah, it’s just a scratch, but my asshole boss made me come in anyway. You’d think my hand was falling off,” he said with a smile.

  “Uh, hello? Asshole boss sitting right here, remember?”

  Startled, I looked over to where the phone sex voice came from, and standing in the far corner of the room was a Greek god if I had ever seen one. His boss was the size of a Titan, and I had an itch to touch his face to see if his skin was as smooth as it looked. He had a beard that made him look every bit of a wet dream, trimmed and not forgotten. Good thing I was holding an iPad or else I probably would have reached out. He had the most perfect eyes. They looked like the caramel in the center of my favorite candy bar. Brown so vibrant it seemed like he could see straight through to your soul. His biceps were the size of my head, it felt like, and the way he stood there was like he owned the room. He was comfortable in his skin and he knew it. Bad boy written all over his stance.

  “Uh, hm. Hi
. Sorry, I didn’t see you over there,” I squeaked out. He returned my greeting with a curt nod. Embarrassed by my actions and obvious gawking, I turned back to my patient and he gave me a warm smile.

  “So, Tim, what happened?” I asked.

  “I was working on a new building, cutting plywood, and someone stepped on my saw cord. It jerked down, and as I put pressure on it, they stepped off the cord. Down came the saw, and my stupid hand didn’t move in time.”

  He replied like it was no big deal. Sometimes men were my favorite patients because they didn’t make a huge scene, and sometimes I hated them because they didn’t think they needed help. In this case I liked my patient, because he was laid back and seemed not to care either way.

  “Okay, let’s take a look here, shall we?” I took his hand in mine and his hand was cut from his pointer finger knuckle to the top of his wrist. It was pretty deep, too. “You are right, Tim, this is just a baby scratch, but it’s one that’s going to need stitches. Are you up to date on your tetanus shot? Also, we need to do a drug screen for Occ Health. Okay?” I told him.

  “Yeah, I’m up to date on that, and stitches sound fun. Can I go back to work?” he asked.

  “You should be able to work just fine -- just try not to strain that hand or else your stitches will pop. That hurts like no other, and it would mean you’d have to come back and see me so we can make sure it doesn’t need restitched.”

  “Coming back to see you doesn’t sound like too bad of a plan, pretty lady,” he replied wagging his eyebrows. Audrey laughed and shook her head.

  “You think that now until I inflict more pain on you, Romeo,” I replied with a wink. “Audrey is going to get you a cup that I need a urine sample in, okay? Bathroom is right out your door to the left. She’s also going to take a couple vials of blood for some tests, and then she will get your hand clean so I can come sew you up. Registration will be in shortly to get the billing info for the work claim.” I directed the last part to Mr. No Words in the corner. “I’ll be back shortly.” I gave Tim a warm smile and hurried out of the room. I could feel his boss staring a hole into my backside. I didn’t need any more nerves on top of the ones I already had.

  Chapter Two

  I walked around the nurses station to the door of the on-call room to where Doc Doug was, and knocked on the door frame.

  “Just wanted to make sure you wanted me to do the sutures on room six? It’s really not too bad. He will need about twenty or so I’d say.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. I need to get a second opinion on these CT scans anyway. If you’re up to it that is?” he asked.

  “I’m fine. Plus, if he gives me too much trouble I’ll just make them extra tight,” I replied with a wink and a laugh knowing full well I wouldn’t, and that the patient was more than likely to give his boss trouble before me. Doug laughed at my response as I walked away, heading back into room six.

  “Alright Tim, we are going to get you stitched up real quick so we can get you out in a hurry, okay?” I asked.

  “Sounds good to me, ma’am, I am in no hurry though. I’m getting paid.” He replied with a huge grin pointed to the man who had my heart racing for no reason behind me.

  “Keep it up and it’ll be your last time getting paid,” the mystery man replied back with a humored tone.

  Woah. I thought he had a sexy voice before. His voice is even better when it’s not all stiff and gruff. What am I even thinking right now? My ex-husband burned down my house, I’m homeless, nearly poor with all my student loans, and I am not exactly eye catching. I need to remind myself I. Don’t. Do. Bad. Boys. Because he has bad boy written all over his huge, sculpted, muscular, perfect, tanned, lickable body. Down hormones! DOWN! Jeesh!

  Thank heavens Audrey walked back in the room with the stuff I needed. I cleared my throat and in a steady voice that even shocked me, I said “Okay, let’s get started shall we?”

  *********************************

  As Audrey and I walked out of the room to the nurses station we didn’t speak a word. However, I knew she was ready to start squealing as soon as Tim and the woman’s gift to earth left the hospital.

  Audrey did in fact squeal. She also jumped up and down clapping her hands.

  “Did you see those guys?” she gushed.

  “Yes, I did stitch up the guy,” I answered with a chuckle.

  “Ohhhhhh, but did you see them!” she said bouncing on her heals.

  I fell into my chair with a sigh. “Yes, I did, but you know me. I’m not looking for a man. I don’t need to look for a man. They are nothing but trouble.”

  She looked at me like I was growing a horn in the middle of my head. Yes, I realized I sounded like one of those women who hated men. I really didn’t; however, I don’t need to bring a man into my life right now. I highly doubt they would want to deal with what I’m dealing with. I can imagine it now: Hi! I’m Bridget and I am twenty-seven and divorced. Oh! Also, my ex-husband is a psychopath who used to verbally abuse me, and then when I divorced him, he got physical. One more thing I forgot to mention, he burned my house down too. I like your smile though. Yeah right!

  I looked at Audrey who was still looking at me like I had gone crazy. “What? Anyway, do you know of a good construction place around here that I could get a quote on to build me a house?” I asked her to change the subject.

  She got this mischievous look and said, “I noticed the subject change and I’ll allow it for now, but yeah, Hudson’s Blueprints. They added on to our house with the new guest room.” She wrote the name and number on a sticky note and handed it over to me.

  “Thanks, A. I really appreciate this. I hope they can meet the budget so I can just get this started. I hate not having my own place. I don’t like to feel ungrounded, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know. Hopefully you won’t have to stress over it with these guys. They are truly wonderful. Not to mention not half bad looking either,” she replied with a wink.

  “There is nothing wrong with a little eye candy, I suppose,” I laughed.

  Right when I was about to clock out for the night I decided to ask Audrey if she wanted to go get a drink with me. I really didn’t feel like going to my hotel, having to worry, checking every dark corner in my room before I went to bed. As we headed out the door to our cars, she asked if I wanted to go to our usual place or somewhere else. I did want to go somewhere else, but if I said that to her she would start to ask questions. So, I decided to just keep it simple as always.

  “I think The Four J’s is fine!” I called back. She nodded and got in her car.

  The Four J’s was a pretty popular bar, but wasn’t overrun. It was a nice place to go after a shift with the other hospital staff, and it was just a few blocks from the hospital. It was an extra few miles from my house, well, my burned down house. Just as I thought this, I looked up into my rearview mirror -- let the always looking over my shoulder start now.

  As I pulled into the parking lot Audrey was already out of her car waiting. I parked and hopped out, hitting the button on my key to lock the doors. We made it to the door of the bar when I realized that I didn’t hear my car beep, indicating the doors locked.

  “Hey, A. Hold up, I don’t think the doors locked on my car.” As I walked back to the car to look, sure enough, it didn’t lock. I hit the button again and it didn’t do anything. “Great, I think the battery is dead in this thing,” I laughed. I opened my door and hit the lock button, still nothing. I found this very weird, so I went and manually opened all four doors and pushed down the lock, mentally reminding myself to go and get that checked out. Just another thing on my long list of things to do.

  We walked in the door, and the bar had a pretty large crowd. The music was loud and the place had a nice vibe going on. Good thing I asked to come here tonight. I needed to let loose a bit. Audrey grabbed my hip and nodded her head towards the back signaling to me that she was going to the bathroom. I nodded back and headed for the bar. I sat on one stool and kicked my feet up on
another to save it for Audrey.

  “What can I get ya, Not Quite Doctor?” Abe the bartender asked

  “I’ll have my usual, and Audrey will probably have hers as well,” I laughed.

  “Alrighty. One Jack and Coke and one Jim and Coke, coming right up!” Abe called as he was walked away.

  Jack and Jim and a few good friends, I sang in my head as Abe put our drinks in front of me. I pulled out my phone to see if my brother had text me today or not. He usually texted or called once a month, but hasn’t so far, this month. I knew not to worry, he was a Marine and his schedule was busier than mine, and I was a Nurse Practitioner in an ER. But I couldn’t help the little bubble of worry I got when he was radio silence. I felt a tap on my shoulder and without even looking up I said, “No thanks, I’m here with someone.”

  “I honestly don’t give a fuck who you are here with because you are leaving here with me, wife.”

  Leroy.

  Chapter Three

  All of the blood drained from my face and all the sounds in the background faded away to only my heart pumping as fast as it could without going into cardiac arrest.

  “I’m not your wife anymore, and I don’t have to go anywhere with you, or even have anything to do with you anymore,” I said in a firm but quiet voice that pissed me off but made him smirk at how much power he has over me. Still.

  I’m just glad my voice didn’t shake like my legs were. I have no idea what I ever saw in Leroy. He’s five-ten with dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and a pinched mouth. He looks like he smokes four packs of cigarettes a day. He looks built from the outside view, but he uses his language and tone to hurt people, not his non-existent muscles. He was still stronger than my five foot six inch, 135 pound frame.

  He grabbed my arm and pulled me off of the stool, and spat, “You will do exactly as I say, or when that beloved brother of yours returns he will wish he was still over there. It’ll be a shame if he met the end of his time while he thinks he is safe, stateside,” he sneered.